Meghan Kowalski
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  • Resume
  • Presentations & Publications
  • Portfolio
  • Reading List
  • Blog
  • Newsletter
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The Weekly Wrap: June 19, 2022

6/19/2022

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I don't like driving. I learned to drive in a small town with one stoplight. The main road hazards where snow and deer. I didn't like driving then. Now, I live in a city with terrible traffic and many more than one stop light. The main road hazards are... everything. I really don't like driving now.

I managed to go over a decade without driving a car. Between public transit, Uber, and a husband who doesn't mind driving, it was pretty easy to avoid having to get behind the wheel myself. 

Then, we had a kid.

I knew, from a safety and life perspective, it would be easier for us if I just started driving again.

I started easy. I drove with my husband in the car only going to and from daycare. Then I did a few solo drives to the grocery store. Then I leveled up to taking our kiddo to and from school. Now, I occasionally do longer solo jaunts to run errands.

On Friday, I drove to CostCo. It's just over 17 miles roundtrip. I literally turn onto the main street outside our building, pick the middle lane, and stay there until I turn into the mall that houses the warehouse. There are no turns. I don't need to change lanes. I drive there outside of rush hour.

I hate it. My FitBit clocks my heart rate like I'm running up stairs. 


But I did it. It's the second time I've done this trip and it was a little easier than the first. With time, I hope I get less anxious about driving. 

Just don't ask me to get on a highway anytime soon.

What scary things do you push through?

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  • What is rarely read on Wikipedia. [colin_morris]
  • The problem with budget culture. [Culture Study]
  • Don't forget the dip! [EATER]
  • When your research is not as niche as you think. [Chronicle of Higher Education - may be paywalled]
  • The Millennial Consumer Subsidy is ending. [The Atlantic - may be paywalled]
  • Okay, but what it they're covered in salt? That's my favorite part of trail mix. [TIME]
  • How to get the most out of your CSA or Farm Share. [The Farm Share Newsletter]
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  • Title IX worked, but there's still a way to go. Women's sports are still treated as second class. [Up First]
  • The most versatile pan in the kitchen. [Short Wave]
  • Mental accounting makes us behave weirdly. [Hidden Brain]
  • Political affiliation is now a determinant of health. [Short Wave]
  • The culture of taking a real lunch break. [Planet Money]
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  • When we don't know what to watch, we tend to put on action flicks. That's how we ended up watching Interceptor. It's not good but it's also not bad. The supposed shocks in the narrative were pretty telegraphed. Also, this film took itself far too seriously for what it was.  Plus, you could see the choreography of the fight scenes. [Netflix]
  • I added The Lost City to our list the second I saw the trailer. It has the perfect cast for the story. Plus, it knows what it is and doesn't take itself too seriously. Since we rented this, we watched it twice because it was that enjoyable. The only question I have is, how would we categorize this film? Rom-com? Action Romance? I'm stumped. [Amazon Prime]
  • I knew Mare of Easttown was going to be great before we started it. Once again, Kate Winslet lives up the to expectations heaped on her. This series is complex and, while I ultimately found the end game a bit contrived, that does not take away from the storytelling or film making. The creators did a wonderful job of creating a community and cast that felt real. There was truth to all the drama. That gave the series emotional punch. [HBO Max]
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  • I tried my hand at a new meatball recipe: Greek turkey meatballs with orzo and feta sauce. The meatballs were great. The feta sauce came out a bit grainy. I used store brand feta and that may have been my downfall. I did skip the mint since I didn't see myself using up the extra anytime soon. [Ambitious Kitchen]
  • For my meal prep, I threw together lemony artichoke and quinoa salad. I love salads that include grains. We had some extra cherry tomatoes and feta so I tossed those in as well.  Might add cucumber next time. [Budget Bytes]
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The Weekly Wrap: June 12, 2022

6/12/2022

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We have three Amazon Alexa devices in our home. I have a love/hate relationship with them.

I love them because they make great digital picture frames. I created a shared family album and upload pictures do that album regularly. We use this album as our background option and the images cycle through all day. We share this album with our extended family so it means the grandparents get to see new pictures of the kiddo on their Alexa devices as well.

I also love our Alexas because they play music with decent sound quality. I can just randomly ask for things like "90s music" or "acoustic chill" or "morning vibes." Sometimes the random stations are not quite what I had in mind, but I enjoy being introduced to new things.

My favorite part of the Alexa is that I can add things to a shopping list. The minute I run low on something I say, "Alexa, put shampoo on my shopping list." I can then refer to this list on my phone which makes shopping so much easier. I can also set reminders and alarms which has been most helpful when the Husband needs to prep something for dinner while I'm in the office.

But there are certain things I loathe about our A-words. And, yes, we call them our A-words both to not set them off and because it's more polite than saying, "A**hole! Just get my request right!"

I am convinced that assistive devices like this have not taken off because Amazon (and other companies) are so damn focused on marketing more stuff to you that they lose most of their functionality.

Those photo backgrounds I mentioned are constantly interspersed by ads I don't want. I BOUGHT THIS MACHINE, LET ME TURN THEM OFF! Plus, when you ask for things, the A-word just keeps talking trying to get you to try something new, upgrade to paid, or share something it thinks is useful based on your request. I don't want that. Cut it out. A task that should take the A-word 2 seconds ends up taking thirty because it just won't shut up. We are constantly saying, "A-word, STOP!" just to get it to be silent.

Then there are the inevitable tech glitches. I have never once gotten through a clean game of Jeopardy. The game is always dropping or restarting or skipping ahead. It's so much less enjoyable because I have to keep asking it to restart or repeat. 

This is all on top of the wildly inaccurate answers to some requests that makes me think we have a second toddler who doesn't listen in our home.


Also, the inherent sexism in having a female voice be the default assistant vocal choice grates on me. Give me something like a "Giovanni" or, I dunno, maybe something entirely asexual like "Computer." I could at least feel like I'm piloting a spaceship that way.

Finally, they're totally listening all the time. I don't believe Amazon when they say they aren't.

What do you think of voice assistants?

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  • Boo. I was so hoping this would be true. [Real Simple]
  • The generational divide on getting "good" jobs. [Higher Ed Dive]
  • The typeface designed by a tree. [Bjorn Karmann]
  • Scaling bread recipes for a solo baker. [Wordloaf]
  • This is why I have a personal rule that I get one attempt (no touching) at photographing someone else's food. [EATER]
  • TSA shares about the things you can and cannot bring in your carry-on. [PureWow]
  • Find your professional values to help you engage with work. [CUInsight]
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  • The economic story of The Simpsons. [Planet Money]
  • Why we have courtroom artists. [Every Little Thing]
  • The Betsy Ross story you know is a lie. [99% Invisible]
  • This podcast for kids teaches me so much. [Who When Wow]
  • Hobbies are important. [A Drink With a Friend]
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  • Despite my misgivings about JK Rowling (and Johnny Depp for that matter), we did watch the most recent Fantastic Beasts movie The Secrets of Dumbledore. I found the first film in this series to be an utterly charming delight. While this third part of the series had its moment, it felt like it missed that magic of the first. I loved seeing Mads Mikkelsen take over Depp's role and I think he was profoundly better in it, but I wanted more fantastic beasts and less of Dumbledore's backstory. In some ways, I wish there were fewer attempts to tie these prequels to the main Harry Potter plot. I just want to follow Newt Scamander find more fantastical animals. [HBO Max]
  • I enjoy a good chase film and Ambulance is essentially an intense 2-hour chase scene with very little respite from the action. Once the plot and the characters are set up, you are just along for the ride. I'm not sure I breathed for the last hour of the film. It's full of action film tropes, but this is very well done. I'm also glad they only cast one big name actor. The plot and the characters get to shine more that way. [Peacock]
  • After polishing off Space Force, we watched season 2 of The Home Edit​. I adore all things organization and the two creators/hosts are intense but I find them delightful. If I weren't a librarian, I think a good back up career for me would be working for them. I love editing out stuff, tetrising objects into spaces, and the calm that comes from a tidy room. I don't buy into the whole rainbow scheme being easier to put things away, but I will admit that it looks nice. [Netflix]
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  • Sometimes you just want a quick protein and a side. I made chicken with spinach and mushrooms. The Husband sous vided the chicken for me. After I sauteed the vegetables, I tossed in the chicken for a quick sear and BOOM dinner is done. Plus, having an open bottle of white wine was a great excuse to enjoy a glass afterwards. [Real Simple]
  • I don't need an excuse to eat bacon or pasta, but this recipe gave me one. It was a quick dish to put together but I actually think you need to use that shelf-stable parmesan in a can. I microplaned it off a block and the flavor was just lacking. I needed to add more cheese piled on top to feel like dish was to my liking. [Budget Bytes]
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The Weekly Wrap: June 5, 2022

6/5/2022

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Just this cartoon every month.

When I was a kid, summer felt like forever. The days went on and on, and it felt like I had all the time in the world to play and read.  Now, three months go by and it feels like seconds. I was looking at my summer projects list for work and realized that if I got even half of it done, I could consider myself to be highly productive.

Time speeds up as you age. It's a known phenomenon. My sense of time was even more radically altered by becoming a mom. I can actually see time progressing by how tall our toddler gets compared to various objects in our home. (I will be happy when she grows past the "eyes at even level with the corner of the dining room table" stage.)

The pandemic has thrown things even more for a loop. What even is time if every day feels weirdly the same and we can't do big events to break things up?

I know that time is a real thing. But, it feels so much like a construct that I'm beginning to think it's pointless. In some ways, seeing time as something fake is radically freeing. It means we get to live in the moment and just enjoy the present as it happens.

Then again, when my doctor is 25 minutes late for an appointment, you better believe I complain about time. 

How has your view of time changed?

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  • This is a timeline of web design. I've been alive for all of it. I had a Geocities website! [Web Design Museum]
  • OMG the Wayback Machine archived my Geocities page. Click the graphic to see some truly awful web design yours truly did back in middle school. [Wayback Machine]
  • Consider the ice cream cone. [NYT - may be paywalled]
  • Body doubling shows the community power behind productive work. [WaPo - gift link]
  • How to have an at home wellness sabbatical. I'm intrigued. [Real Simple]
  • The best time to brush your teeth in the morning. [Real Simple]
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  • When Planet Money gets into a thing, they really get into a thing. [Planet Money]
  • How to talk to kids about the hard things happening in the world. [Life Kit]
  • To me, the science says ban guns. [Short Wave]
  • Madame Tussaud was real and sounds like an interesting person. [Atlas Obscura]
  • The power of branding. [Hidden Brain]
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  • When my parents were in town, we wanted to watch a movie but not something that was new to us. I found that Skyfall was available. I'm not the biggest Bond fan, but I do enjoy Daniel Craig's take on the character. Plus, I adore Dame Judy Dench. Skyfall is representative of how this Bond rendition feels like a good movie beyond just being a stereotypical Bond film. Yes, there is the typical spy stuff, but it's also just a well made film. [Amazon Prime]
  • This week, we started watching Space Force. I did not realize that these were only half hour episodes; we're almost done with both seasons. It's an okay show. There are glimpses of greatness but it is trying to do too much. There are way to many plotlines. Plus, so many of the actors are tied to previous characters they've played that they are fighting to be seen as anything else. I will, however, always adore this show for John Malkovich. First, I would hear him read anything - his voice is just melodic. Secondly, his take on his role as Chief Scientist is the right split between serious and zany. [Netflix]
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  • I wanted to make a dish that was both easy but out of the ordinary. It's been awhile since I made this smoky Spanish-style pan roast. It's a tasty dish (as long as you use smoked paprika) but I should have made it in a sheet pan. I used a casserole dish and it took twice as long as it should have for the potatoes to cook. We also used chicken chorizo sausage. All the flavor, less of the mess. [Cooking Light]
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  • I had my annual skin check this week. I had one biopsy done. Neither the dermatologist or I are worried about it, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Consider this a reminder to wear sunscreen, stay protected from the sun, and make sure to get your skin checked annually. Skin cancer is more common than you think but can be highly treatable if caught early.  [Skin Cancer Foundation]
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The Weekly Wrap: May 29, 2022

5/29/2022

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I am full of rage and frustration. My jaw hurts from how hard I've been clenching my teeth this week. I told my husband that I couldn't even vent to him because it's not like it matters. Nothing matters because nothing is going to happen.

Nothing.

Anne Helen Peterson eloquently explains why this feels so bad. It's designed to. We no longer live in a true representative democracy.

Nothing is going to change.

That is why the hurt goes so deep.

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  • There's a lot of science (and probably a movie) in this sunken forest found in China. [WaPo - gift link]
  • Doing mom things slowly is not self-care. [In Pursuit of Clean Countertops]
  • Would you retire on a cruise ship? [WaPo - gift link]
  • Mending sidewalks into art. [Colossal]
  • We need more pay transparency laws. [TIME - may be paywalled]
  • Climate change is leading to poorer sleep. [NPR]
  • Plagiarism on the internet is everywhere (and mostly on purpose). [Vox]
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  • VR therapy may help alleviate chronic pain. [The Daily]
  • Reflecting on your personal story to help you get a new job. [Life Kit]
  • I love Old Bay! Or... do I? [Dish City]
  • Writing Chinese language and the growth of a superpower. [Throughline]
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  • What happens when you take Ser Davos Seaworth, The Good Doctor, and soccer fans and throw them in a movie called The Vault? A rather interesting take on a heist film involving underwater salvage techniques, actually. This was a wonderful popcorn flick but it does fall for the typical narrative plot holes that are common in this genre. That said, would actually watch again.  [Netflix]
  • I wanted to watch Operation Mincement simply for the remarkable cast and World War II setting.  Aside from the bad Winston casting, this was a fantastic film. There were so many layers of storytelling (including hints of James Bond's origins) that I kept thinking "Oooh! I need to Google that!" In some of my post-watch research, I found that the story didn't seem to fudge or make up much of the main plotline. That made it even more fascinating. [Netflix]
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  • I like seafood but I'm a bit scared of cooking fish that is not salmon. I always fear that I'm going to ruin it somehow. This week, I tried my hand at sheet pan fish and chips. It turned out deliciously. I will make this again. Although, the husband wasn't the biggest fan of my version of homemade tartar sauce (just mixing mayonnaise and relish) so I may need to tweak something there. [Real Simple]
  • Around three (four?) years ago, during our annual ski trip, a friend made a Mexican corn salad as a side dish. It was delicious. I've made that recipe for myself, but it's not quite enough for a meal on it's own. For my lunch prep this week, I tried a new Mexican street corn pasta salad. It was hearty enough for lunch but was still missing something. I may have actually underdone it on the corn. [Chelsea's Messy Apron]
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The Weekly Wrap: May 15, 2022

5/15/2022

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I've never been one to specialize. I find that I am far too interested in far too many things for that.

I started working on the strategic planning for a revamp of my website and found that I could, at best, manage to clump my professional work into three major chunks: outreach and marketing, leadership and management, and information literacy and instruction. Within those categories are a ton of subtopics like customer service, productivity, and photography. 

I don't know how to specialize my work... and I don't want to.

I find that all the aspects of what I do roll into one another. Knowing how to provide effective customer service increases my leadership skills which, in turn, leads me to be more productive, which allows me to focus on creating new things for our social media, which allows me to share what I've learned with others, which helps me improve my teaching skills, and on and on and on.

I see my work as one big mush of things and I love it all. I would be loathe to give any of it up.

It's the same with my personal interests. I jump from reading about calligraphy, to life management, to cooking, to parenting, to history, to minimalism. My reading list abounds what random titles that caught my eye in the moment.

I thrive on having a variety of interesting things to learn. It's one reason I write this. I can flit from one idea to another, never being bored of learning new things.

Are you a generalist or a specialist?

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  • Testing the best ways to ripen an avocado. [Kitchn]
  • When it comes to parenting decisions, where you raise kids matters. Everything else? Eh. [The Atlantic - may be paywalled]
  • On how recipe writing has changed. [David Lebovitz]
  • Ways to make work more fun. [HBR - may be paywalled]
  • I love goldfish crackers and I love Old Bay seasoning, but I'm not sure about this. [NBC4]
  • We build too much parking. [The Deleted Scenes]
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  • Even science says trust women. [Short Wave]
  • Adding this magical sounding underground garden to my list of places to visit. [Atlas Obscura]
  • We're getting old and it's kind of a problem. [The Indicator]
  • Misinformation kills. [Short Wave]
  • A lot lives in the shadows of the Constitution. [Throughline]
  • How inflation may personally impact you. [The Daily]
  • The emerging science of ASMR. [Science Vs]
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  • We have a list of movies that we want to watch one day. It's not long, but what's left on the list are things you have to be in the mood to watch. We have not been in the mood. So, in our desire to watch something not too serious, we went off list . That led us to stream The Protege. It's a hitman narrative starring Maggie Q, Samuel L. Jackson, and, in a surprising choice, Michael Keaton. Aside from some weird plot holes and my standing issues with movie age pairings, it was a good movie. Lots of (almost) believable action, well acted, and great production. [Netflix]
  • We watched one of the latest entries in the "Liam Neeson Punching Things" genre: The Marksman. It also tied right into our trend of watching things in the Narcos field.  The film was about what you'd expect. The writing was strained and the acting was just fine. I will say, it did a decent job of walking a fine line with the politics of Neeson's character owning a ranch on the border.  [Amazon Prime]
  • Hand harvesting salt from a lake in Senegal. This is a fascinating look at how the work is done and how the high salinity of the lake came to be. [Eater]
  • While the Husband was out of town this week, I decided to watch The New Pope. It's an artistic fever dream of a show with incredible writing, acting, and narrative. Profoundly weird, but profoundly good. [HBO]
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  • For my meal prep this week, I made lemony cucumber couscous salad because it let me combine a lot of flavors I love in one bowl. This dish was refreshing with great textures. Perfect for the warming weather. I did bother with the parsley this time... but I just went ahead and tossed in the whole bunch. [Budget Bytes]​
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The Weekly Wrap: May 8, 2022

5/8/2022

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I have mixed feelings about the subscription business model that everything seems to be moving to these days. On the one hand, I like being able to actively choose the individual content I pay for. On the other hand, it gets expensive quickly.

For example, I pretty much replaced all my print magazine subscriptions with Substacks.  I love being able to pay authors directly but this is getting so pricey that I've decided to limit myself to just 5 subscriptions at a time. I want full access to many more, but I can't justify the cost.

That makes me think that I would happily pay $200 a year directly to Substack itself to avoid all the paywalls on their website...

But then - oh, look - we've reinvented cable.

This is my problem. Bundling generally keeps prices down but it dilutes the payments to the original creators. Direct payments are more rewarding to the creators BUT they get too expensive to allow me to support everyone I want to support.

So, in the end, what really is better for everyone? The individual subscription model or the bundle model?

What's your opinion on subscriptions and paywalls?

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  • Ending Roe was always the plan. [Men Yell at Me]
  • There's a hole in this church. [Atlas Obscura]
  • You can now ask Google to stop using your personal data in search results. [NPR]
  • Planned obsolescence uncovered in the quest to replace a washing machine. [The Deleted Scenes]
  • Kids are tiny philosophers. [ParentData]
  • How to store leafy greens. [Food Network]
  • I now feel the need to try all of these breads. [CNN]
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  • A musical explanation of the GDP. [The Indicator]
  • What strong emotions mean and how we process them. [Life Kit]
  • When economic conditions are a breeding ground for unions. [The Daily]
  • The psychology of money. [Hidden Brain]
  • Pandemic data tracking in the the U.S. was just plain bad. [99% Invisible]
  • Let us raise a glass! [Life Kit]
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  • I generally enjoy Roland Emmerich films. Sometimes, you just need an overly CGIed blockbuster in your life. When Moonfall came out, it immediately went on my watch list. Now, with an Emmerich film, you know what you're getting. You have to suspend disbelief in science and narrative storytelling if you're going to enjoy it. Sadly, Moonfall was not even a good popcorn flick. It was just plain bad. It was 2012 meets Independence Day meets middle school play. [Amazon Prime]
  • One show I am happy got a reboot is Leverage. We recently started watching Leverage: Redemption and, while the actors are certainly older, it has the same whimsy and campy plotting as the original. This week, we watched one episode that centered around a small town librarian played by LeVar Burton. (Meep!) Aside from it showing our librarian having time to kick up his feet and read at the circulation desk (hahaha!), I adored this one. It spoke to the essence of the library and what libraries stand for - with a madcap spy adventure tacked on. AND THEN! The next episode was all about the dangers of influencer culture and search engine algorithms and there were no lies in the structural narrative [*deep inhale*] and it made me very happy and I want to use the set-up scene in a library instruction class. [Amazon Prime]
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  • Last Sunday afternoon, our building hosted a dessert extravaganza in the courtyard. Everyone was asked to make or bring a dessert of their choice. I opted to bake a lemon pound cake which has been sitting in my Evernote for years. It was a good if dense cake, but the error was on my end. First, I'm still learning our new oven. This cake helped me uncover some hot spots. Next, I overwhipped the batter in the final stage which caused one quarter of the cake to sink. I had to bake it 30 minutes extra to help cook that bit. On the upside, when you flip a bundt over and add a glaze, nobody notices. [Real Simple]
  • I can't remember when I first tried Waldorf salad. It was ages and ages ago, but I know I've eaten it. A memory of tastiness stuck in my head. When this recipe for chickpea Waldorf salad landed in my inbox, I decided it would be a decent lunch meal prep. I was not wrong. It was crunchy and sweet and delicious. I served it with wheat thins instead of over spinach. I also skipped the parsley because I just could not be bothered. [The Kitchn]
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The Weekly Wrap: May 1, 2022

5/1/2022

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This week, I presented at a conference. I also presented at a conference last month. Next month, I present twice at the same conference. In the fall, I'm giving a webinar for a national library organization. I've got half a dozen more proposals out for consideration and I legitimately think most of them will be approved.

Every time one of my proposals is accepted, I am surprised. There's a heavy dose of imposter syndrome going on because who am I to be chosen to talk about these things? Who am I to say that I can teach these things? Who am I compared to the others in attendance? I have a hard time seeing myself as more knowledgeable, skilled, or talented. In fact, I know I am woefully average.

And - yet - my proposals are still selected.

I think my shock comes partly from societal norms that tell women that they're not good enough. I think many (myself included) have a fear of rejection. If your proposal is not accepted, it must mean you are not as good as you think. I also think it comes from the lack of transparency when it comes to demonstrating expertise. At least in librarianship, there's no one teaching you "this is how you present at conferences." You don't learn a process. It's a leap of faith to jump into it.

I took that leap of faith because, one year, I just decided to say "Screw it! Let's try." It was one of the best decisions I ever made. 

What are you going to leap of faith into?

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  • You probably don't need to replace these two kitchen appliances. [Apartment Therapy]
  • I need to clean my pillows... [Lifehacker]
  • The taste of the US in regional hot dogs. [The Takeout]
  • An author talks about her revising process. [The Atlantic - may be paywalled]
  • Build a better sandwich. [EATER]
  • If you're making a better sandwich, you might as well learn the best way to pour a beer. [The Takeout]
  • What happens to half used hotel soap. [The Hustle]
  • Pair your boring tasks with somethings stimulating to get through dull work. [HBR - may be paywalled]
  • Is it a lake or a sea? [Atlas Obscura]
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  • I may need to get my hands on this comic book. [Planet Money]
  • The beginning of a critical reading of Pride and Prejudice. [Live from Pemberley]
  • How the ethnic food aisle came to be. [99% Invisible]
  • The impact online currency has on the physical environment. [Short Wave]
  • The scholarly story of Timbuktu. [Atlas Obscura]
  • Shanghai's lockdown created its own economy. [The Indicator]
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  • I used to own The Mummy on DVD. I watched it all the time. It's a romp full of old Hollywood monster movie tropes. Then it dropped off my radar. I put it on this week and was wonderfully transported back to the joy of watching it for the first time. The CGI is a disaster according to modern standards, but it still works because the movie is so campy. This is, by default, a preferred movie of librarians simply for this Rachel Weisz gif. [Netflix]
  • For some reason, I am still drawn to things that have Narcos vibes. This week, that led us to watch Sicario. This movie has a stacked cast but it's hard to see how the lead character, played wonderfully by Emily Blunt, had any role aside from being a plot device. It's a wonderfully shot and acted film, but we left with questions about the narrative. [Amazon Prime]
  • The construction of ancient Roman roads. [Ancient Technology] 
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  • We had an almost used container of quinoa hanging out in our cabinets for longer than I care to remember. I decided to use it up in this week's meal prep by making spinach, chickpea, and quinoa salad. I am a sucker for anything with a vinaigrette and feta. [Budget Bytes]
  • I love cabbage but it's not a favorite of the rest of the family. Occasionally, I try to slip it in to meals. We tried a new to us recipe: slow cooker cabbage and sausage. I figured the potatoes would make it okay for everyone else. It was more of a soup than I thought it would be, but it was also tasty. Our kiddo managed to eat most of the sausage by herself. [Budget Bytes]
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The Weekly Wrap: April 17, 2022

4/17/2022

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I'm not sure if this is true of all Type-A personalities or just my Type-A personality, but I have to plan my free time.

Case in point... Saturday was the start of my 24-hours off from parenting. My husband and I agreed that we would each get two this year and I decided to schedule my first one for this weekend. I packed up a suitcase full of snacks, spa supplies, and my laptop and rolled it down the street to a hotel near our home. For 24-hours it's just me, a rewatch of Bridgerton season 2, a long hot bath, and random scrolling of the internet. 

But, I can't just enjoy this indulgence as it happens, I have to plan for it. For my one night away, I made a packing list, schedule, menu, and a spread in my bullet journal. Sure, some of the timing in the schedule is vague and I only listed some activities I'd like to do, but I still planned my entire night off down to which face masks I wanted to use.

I simply can't not plan. (You hear that? It's all my friends and family snickering in recognition.) I find that I enjoy my time more if I have a roadmap for where I'm going. My brain gets itchy if there's not a list or a schedule. I need to be able to cross things off, even on my "unproductive" days. 

Do you plan your free time?

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  • Is there an ideal shower length? [Lifehacker]
  • Art on toast. [Colossal]
  • Students are disengaged and disappearing even when they're in class. [Chronical of Higher Education - may be paywalled]
  • Setting up a kitchen from scratch? Use this list. [Serious Eats]
  • Book mobiles have a long history. [Book Riot]
  • The pandemic took life lesson learning from little kids. [WaPo - gift link]
  • Books. Are they for reading, decorating, or bragging? [The Guardian]
  • It's almost like standardized tests only reward people who can afford to learn how to take them... [Higher Ed Dive]
  • The origin of fish and chips. [Atlas Obscura]
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  • Power plants helped save the manatees and now that's a problem. [Planet Money]
  • The cycle and far reaching impacts of incivility. [Hidden Brain]
  • The income gap even exists in inflation. [The Indicator]
  • The active democracy of town meeting. [99% Invisible]
  • Self-censorship and preference falsification can lead people and society astray. [Hidden Brain]
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  • We watched Free Guy and it was ridiculously charming. Ryan Reynolds stars and channels Will Ferrell's enthusiasm in Elf against the backdrop of a story that combines The Lego Movie and Ready Player One. I know a lot of the references went over my head because I am not a gamer, but I picked up on a few things. This one we may be watching again to get all the goodness. Let the credits roll. The cameos are fantastic. [HBO]
  • We must have been in a Ryan Reynolds mood this week because we also watched The Adam Project. If you can just ignore the conundrums, broken science, and plot holes that always come with time travel flicks, it's a good movie. The cast is stacked. Reynolds seems to play the same variation of character in every film, but it works. [Netflix]
  • Because cat. [@alex_wohlrab]
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  • I think cold pasta is a great lunch meal prep option. This week, I made spinach and orzo salad with balsamic dressing. Quick and easy to throw together, but next time I'll wait to toss in the dressing. I did it all at once and it soaked into the pasta mellowing the flavor. [Budget Bytes]
  • One thing our kiddo is generally guaranteed to eat is sausage. I made slow cooker sausages with peppers and onions. It was a nice option for dinner, but I'm not sure I will make it again. The brats lacked the snap that comes with grilling or pan searing. And, weirdly, the green peppers came out pretty bitter. Then again, I do love any recipe that lets me cook with whole grain mustard. [The Kitchn]
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The Weekly Wrap: April 10, 2022

4/10/2022

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I had a not so great week.

After three intense weeks of work and personal stuff, I was looking forward to this week being a bit lighter. While the workload itself was generally manageable, things bubbled up that drained my emotional batteries.

I'm an academic librarian. Generally, our students are fantastic and I love nothing more than working directly with them. Sometimes, however, things go awry. This week, a student I assist all the time asked for help but then rejected every attempt on my end to provide that help. The rejection was loud and confrontational. It was so bad, I had to write up an incident report. The next day, another student called my direct line and opened the call with "You people are incompetent." Never a great start. 

At home, our kiddo is about to go through a growth spurt which means she's being assertively independent, cranky, and does not listen. This amounts to a lot of screams, whining, and thrashing. It's frustrating and tiring.

On top of all of this, it was gray and rainy almost every day. The weather seemed to reflect my overall mood instead of helping me out of my funk. Thanks, Mother Nature.

If I were to add things up, all of this amounted to about 6 hours of my life. But those 6 hours ruined everything else. The emotional baggage carried over impacting my mood, ability to engage, and my sleep quality. Instead of trying to climb out of it, I just let myself disengage and wallow in the grumps. 

Then, as the sun finally came out on Friday, I let myself take a deep inhale and start over. 

How was your week?

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  • New York City libraries continue the trend of libraries going fine free. Good. [NYT]
  • The intentions behind IRBs are good. The process now is a case study in bureaucracy. [The Chronicle of Higher Education]
  • If you like plants but don't have a ton of room, try these varieties. [WaPo - gift link]
  • You don't always need to toss moldy food. [Real Simple]
  • How to talk to kids, even little ones, about consent. [A Cup of Ambition] 
  • Perhaps we can all learn from logical consequences. [Is My Kid the Asshole?]
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  • When Russia's currency broke. [Planet Money]
  • Our buildings are dangerous to birds. [99% Invisible]
  • A better use of our food waste. [Gastropod]
  • This lake is a flamingo resort. [Atlas Obscura]
  • Adults need to have fun too! [Life Kit]
  • Finding the taste of umami. [Short Wave]
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  • I confess to having a bit of a film crush on Dwayne Johnson. If he is in it, I will watch it. We watched Jungle Cruise in the hopes that it would be just as good as the remake of Jumanji. It wasn't (because there was no Jack Black) but it was still a delightful romp of a flick. It reminded me of The Mummy, a cult classic of the 90s I adore. Very campy but with great production values. [Disney+]
  • I finally got to watch Bridgerton! It took everything in my willpower not to devour this in one night. This was the perfect balm to my bad week. I don't care that it's over acted. I don't care the plot is contrived. I don't care that is formulaic. I want it all. I want the lushness. I want the romance. I want the lingering looks and slow burn. Give it to me! I will be rewatching this soon. Not even my husband's jokingly snide commentary can stop my love for this series. [Netflix]
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  • Why does buttermilk not come in smaller containers? We've got some hanging out in our fridge so I made two batches of buttermilk pull-apart rolls. I slightly oversalted the tops, but these were otherwise tasty. They are best straight out of the oven while they're warm, but not bad a few days later. I froze our second batch. (Still have buttermilk to use...) [Budget Bytes]
  • I'm trying to be better about not eating out the days I work in the office. This week, I made Mediterranean tuna salad as my meal prep. It was good but needed more acid. Next time, I will half the oil and triple the vinegar. Might add capers or kalamata olives and some sliced roasted bell peppers too. [Budget Bytes]
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The Weekly Wrap: April 3, 2022

4/3/2022

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I am not a handy person. I can wield a paintbrush, hang things on walls, and build furniture; anything beyond that is generally out of my skill set.

When it comes to electrical and plumbing, count me out. I don't want to be anywhere near this kind of work. In fact, my presence is far more a hindrance than a help.

I tried to help my husband install a new light fixture in our bathroom about a month ago. I had a panic attack five minutes in to the process. My father in-law was here last weekend which meant he and my husband could install the water line to our new fridge while I was blissfully unaware at work.

When it comes to advanced DIY work and home maintenance, I would rather pay an expert. More honestly, I leave everything in that arena to my husband's judgement. 

I am well aware that this is a part of "adulting" in which I am weaker. I know that I could take classes, read, and watch videos to get better... but I don't want to. Instead, I happily slot myself into the support role. Does the floor under the dishwasher need to be cleaned before the new one arrives? Done. Help moving heavy items, supplies, or handing up tools to a person on a ladder? Sure. Need a smaller hand to reach something in a tight space? That I can do. Getting things running and organized after they are installed? Count me in.

I am comfortable with my choices because I know that we can't be good at everything. Instead of beating myself up, I happily take a backseat. I can still make contributions without turning into a bundle of stress, frustration, and tears.

What do you know you're not good at?

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  • How to take better food pictures. [Real Simple]
  • It might be time to check the temperature of your fridge. [Real Simple]
  • A runner recalls his marathons and their emotional and physical toll. [WaPo - gift link]
  • Why you might be getting spam text messages from your own number. [The Verge]
  • The history of a slang phrase from the 90s you probably forgot about. [TASTE]
  • How we describe a house having character. [Shangrilogs]
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  • The cost and value of nurses. [The Daily]
  • Better air quality improves educational outcomes. [Short Wave]
  • What you need to know about your taxes this year. [Life Kit]
  • The scientific case for stopping our time changes. [Short Wave]
  • Partisan gerrymandering may (oddly) lead to the fairest election in decades. [The Daily]
  • Octopuses in space! [Short Wave]
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  • When was the last time you thought about wingdings? [Vox]
  • Is it too early to anticipate season four of Succession? We polished off season 3 this week and, man, did that end in an interesting way. There is exactly a zero percent chance I could live with a family that dramatic or work in such a stressful industry. [HBO]
  • I've been eager to watch season two of Bridgerton since a release date was announced. It's here now and it's taking every ounce of my energy not to binge the entire season in one sitting. This series is such a delightful, overacted romp. Pure fluff and I want more. [Netflix]
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  • The in-laws were in town last weekend which meant we got to make a favorite family recipe. This Chinese chicken salad is easy and tasty. The only thing you have to remember to do is marinate the chicken breast in teriyaki sauce a few days ahead of time. You can make this on a stove, but being able to grill the chicken adds a great flavor. [My Evernote]
  • Sometimes I look for an excuse to eat garlic bread. This week, that meant trying a new recipe - tomato basil chicken. I marinated the chicken the night before and the husband dropped it in to the sous vide for me. From there, I followed the recipe. In addition to the side of garlic bread, we also had Caesar salad. [Budget Bytes]
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